Cash For Containers In NSW - It Pays To Recycle

Come on Aussie, come on - the state of Container Deposit Schemes in Australia is promising

From July 2017, to the delight of many residents of NSW, there'll be money to be made from litter.

The NSW government has committed to implementing a 10c container deposit scheme bringing the state in line with SA, which has had a scheme since 1977, and the NT, which launched theirs in 2011. The governments of Queensland and the ACT are expected to soon follow.

The scheme will cover most drink containers between 150 millilitres and 3 litres that display a NSW CDS label. As the primary aim of the program is to reduce litter, drinks that are usually consumed at home, like wine and milk, aren’t covered.

Eligible containers can be taken to a collection depot or placed in a reverse vending machine to reclaim the 10c.

Councils will receive the 10 cent refund for drink containers that end up in the recycling bin which will go to reduce the cost of waste collections.

The cost of the scheme will be covered by a refundable 10 cent levy paid on each container with the beverage industry also contributing an administration and handling fee.

The South Australian scheme has resulted in an 80% return rate of containers and saw charities and community groups raise $60 million last year through clean up projects.

168 million containers end up in landfill in NSW each year, and the scheme will play an important role in helping the NSW government meet its target of reducing litter by 40% by 2020.

Now that there’s a financial incentive to reduce litter, we're looking forward to the beaches, parks and streets of NSW being cleaner.